Improvement in bbidle-eeins



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W ILL 'I AM- An'. A N uns Ws, o' F Nn W ir-o n u. Y. Letters Patent 1Y0.67,837, dated 'August 20, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT tu Bumm-nexus.

T0 ALL WHQM IT MAY CNCERN:l l

.Be it known that W. D. ANDREWS', ofthe city, cpunty, and State of NewYork,l have invented a newA and improved'Combi-nation Bridle and Reine;and I lo herebyvdcclare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescriptionthereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to makeand use the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings,forming part of this specification,-inavliieh;

Figures l and 2 show the head of-ahorse provid-edv with my improvedcombination bridle and reins,rtogether with the ordinary head-stall`bliuders, and bit,but in the one iiguteavith the horses head in itsnatural position or at a state ofrest, and in the other with the headthrown lor drawn `up by the action ofthe safety-reins Yin my improvedcombination.

The object of this invention is to produce sucha combination ofbridleand reins, in the harnesses to-horses more particularly, as tosecure asafe drivingr'an'd riding of horses, and their more etlcctualandrperfect control.

A, in the drawings, represents't-be 4ordinary driving-reins attached tothe bit BV and carried back through the martingale and terret rings tolthe carriage in the'usual manner. `E, the aurri'liary safety-reins,each rein of which isusnally made in two parts and united by afbuckle ate. These reins are attached to thebit B and carried back through theeyes, loops, or pulleysf, at the rear end of reins F, and from thence tothe terret-ring to the carriage, either independently or 'encased withinand werking freely through the driving-reins The reins F 'are attachedtot-he bit B in theusual manner, and carried up and across the horsesnose, over his-head, through eyes, loops, or pulleys b ailixed to thetop of the head-stall ashort distance above and from the ear,terminating in loops, eyes, or pulleysf a short distancebehiud the ear.These'loops, eyes, or pulleysf, as the case may be, are secured to thereins F by. buckles, so that they can be adapted to horsesA heads ofdifferent sizes. In lieu of carrying the reins F across the nose andover the lead they may be carried directly up from the bit u-pon thesideof theihead, through suitable eyes,- loops,`or pulleys secured vtothe sides of the headstall just below the ear, but I prefer thc crossingot' the said reins F over the horses nose, as was first described, as byit the horses head is placed in a. position where he has the least powerof resistance. lFor the use ot' equestrians the rensF may be madeconsiderably longer than the length hereinabove described,'sc that theirloops fwill'reach to a point about halt` way betweenthe ear andthemartingale-rings, and in that casethe'safetyreins E are carried fromthe loopf toand through marting'ale-ringm and thence-to the drivershand. In lieu of forming a loop on lines F, atf, make the -line E withaloop at or forward of pointf, through which I eurry line Fandl extenditthence back to the riders hand. The same arrangements used for ridingmay also be used. for driving, if preferred, their elects being'nearlyidentical.` For a more neat appearance ofthe harness it is best toenclose the safcty-reinsrwithiu theordinary driving-reins, they enteringthem at a -point just forward oi `the terretrings and issuing frornthemat a point near the drivers hand, but for convenience of detaching it isbetter to make them independent of' each other, connecting themtogether-temporarily at or near the drivers hand, so that the pressuremaybe readily und quickly transferredV from one tothe other. 4Forconvenience in handling and using the safety-reins they are to `beAprovided with aseries of loops, through those of which, in the properposition, one or morehgers may be inserted when driving, so thatexertiuga slight pressure'it will cause them to act as a check to'lceepthe horses vheadvin any desired position 'and upon any sudden emergencyenable the pressure to be quickly transferred frourthe driving to thesafety-reins. If desired to have a fixed check, a bearing-rein may beattached to the saf"ety-reins E at points just back of lcopsf, bybuckles `or otherwise, and used in the ordinary manner-,but as I deemthe-fixed bearing-rein to be notlonly unnecessary but detrimental, I useonly a very loo'se check, attached as stated above, on which no bearingis permitted while the horse is travelling, its use being merely tocontrol the horses head when stopping suieiently to prevent' theentanglement of his feet with the reins, the rubbing'and injuring ofthebridle, harness,ietc. In the use of my improved combination ofbridle andreins hereinabove described,the person driving tak-es the ordinarydriving-reins in hand and works them in the usual manner, while at thesame time he inserts one or more fingers into one of the loops on eachof the safety-reins, so that should he wish to use them as a eheckheexerts sailicient pressure upon them to raisethe horses head to thedesired position. It" the horse be a confirmed puller, or from unusualspirits, fright,l or other cause exerts an unpleasant pressure upon thedriving-remmer shows symptoms of kicking, the driver, by thentransferring the pressure to and by a direct pull onthe'safetyreins, canraise bit upward in the horses nfouth toward the loopsfwith a force justequal to.that applied lby him, as by the indirect pull communicated fromreins E to reins F, through the interposition of the loop or pulley f,theV bit is raised in the mouth and made to press against the upper jawwith aforce double that applied by the driver, and thus will raise andbring'ithe nose and head of the horse' to a position somewhat similar tothat shown in fig. 2 ofthe drawings. With the head of the horse in theposition above stated the muscles of the neck aref'to a considerableextent rendered powerless, and thus the horse unable to exert anyconsiderable pressure upon the bit to that produced bythe pressure uponthe safety-reins. The horse can neither kick,"back, nor go forwardexcept at the drivers option, thus bringing him to a complete andperfect state of control and subjection, while at the same time noimpediment is o'ered to his breathing, which is the case when the-headis drawn toward the body, as withvthe use of the ordinary driving-reins,and to a greater or less extent-with many of the styles of safetyreinsnow in common use. My improved safety-reins can be used for guiding thehorse with the same or, greater facility than the ordinarydriving-reina'nnd as the pressure of them is transferred mainly to theupper jaw a new bearing. is produced in the mouth, which of itself willin many cases prevent a horse from pullingg. and by my intention, if ahorse is in the habit of pulling on one rein, as the pressureto guidehim is exerted at both ends of the bit at the same time, the bit. isthus kept square inthe mouth, which, being a change of action, willoften effect a cure. In double harnesses the two auxiliary orsafety-reins on each horse are united inone over the base of the horsosneck, and from thene carried back to the drivers hand eitherindependently or through the long double rim in the same manner as inthe single reins, the safety-reins in double harnesses only being usedfor checking and stopping the horses, their guidance being entirelysecured with the ordinary driving-reins. I Having thus described myinvention, I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent- Thesafety, riding, or driving-reins E, whether the same be made separatelyfrom or are enclosed and more freely within and through the ordinarydriving-reins or whether with or without the check-rein attached, asdescribed, when the lsaid reins are combined with, arranged, and-attached to the reins E in the manner and arranged so as to operate asdescribed and for the purposes specified. l

WM. D. ANDREWS.

Witnesses:

WM. F. McNAMARA, ALBERT W. BROWN.

